Surbiton

If you have been travelling around the borough recently, particularly around Kingston town centre, it will have been difficult for you to miss some of the recent progress on the mini-Holland (Go Cycle) schemes. We are pleased to see that 4 different schemes are currently in construction which means Kingston is catching up on some of the backlog of schemes that have been approved by the Council.

2017: a recap – what mini-Holland progress was made?

The new segregated cycle track heading up St Marks Hill in Surbiton opened.

A number of Mini-Holland schemes were approved by Kingston Council’s Resident’s Committee (including Kingston Vale; Penrhyn Road; New Malden to Raynes Park; and Kingston High Street)

Despite the Portsmouth Road scheme not yet fully linking all the way into Kingston town centre, Will Norman (the Mayor of London’s cycling and walking commissioner) recently announced that cycling has already doubled during the week (up 76-104%) and is up 59% on weekdays 7am-7pm.

Work commenced around Kingston Station.

Wheatfield Way – The first part of this scheme was partially constructed between the Rotunda and Wilko’s. The 2-way cycle path built is 3 metres wide and, although not quite as wide as some of the new Cycle Superhighways in central London, it is the same width as much of the successful Portsmouth Road scheme.

2018: what’s happened so far and what might happen in the rest of 2018?

Kingston Station – the construction around the station has been continuing and should be mostly complete by the end of 2018. Work will also hopefully start on the new cycle hub at the station.

Wheatfield Way – Work has already started on the rest of the route and we are hopeful this will be complete during 2018 which will finish the link between Kingston Station and College Roundabout. This will be open up a new North-South cycle route through Kingston’s centre with the route fully segregated from the road.

New segregated cycle track on Claremont Road, Surbiton

Surbiton links – work has been undertaken early this year to finish some of the Surbiton Mini-Holland links including on Claremont Road (see photo) and Surbiton Crescent. There is now work at the junction with Maple Road and Claremont Road to join the links together (including onto Avenue Elmers).

New Malden to Raynes Park – this received approval from the Residents Committee in November 2017 so, subject to Transport for London funding, we hope that work will start on this completely new segregated cycle and walking link in 2018. Kingston Cycle Campaign have campaigned strongly for this route – further information about our campaign can be found here: Raynes Park to New Malden petition.

Kingston Vale – this route will link the centre of Kingston through to the Robin Hood Junction on the A3, intersecting with some key destinations along the route including a number of shops; Kingston Hospital; Richmond Park and Kingston University’s Kingston Hill campus. This scheme was approved by the Residents Committee in June 2017 and work has started this year on Gordon Road and Canbury Park Road. We hope to see some spades in the ground on the main part of the route later in 2018 (again, this is likely to be subject to TfL funding!).

What will Kingston Cycling Campaign be doing in 2018 for Mini-Holland?

We hope to be able to continue to work with the council on the design of schemes to ensure that as many issues as possible are spotted and fixed before construction starts!

We will be keeping an eye on the implementation of schemes and make sure that they improve safety for all cyclists and encourage people to get on their bike.

We will continue to respond to any further consultations on Mini-Holland and will encourage the Council to push Transport for London to release the necessary money to implement the schemes already approved as soon as possible.

You can find more details about all the schemes from Kingston Council’s website by following the links above or going to: https://www.kingston.gov.uk/go

The schemes need real improvement. So please complete all four and call for the routes to be completed and cycles to be separated from both motors and pedestrians.

These are our brief suggested responses which please feel free to use as the basis for your own responses. Do complete the “comments” sections – the questions asked are closed and will not allow you to seek what cyclists really want.Continue reading →

This is the middle section of the Kingston to Surbiton to Tolworth route via Surbiton Crescent and Avenue Elmers. We are told Kingston Council will consult on these proposals in mid June 2016.

Heading south on Surbiton Crescent a modal filter for bikes and buses, at the junction with Surbiton Road, is to be trialled for 3 or 4 months. The route then continues on Avenue Elmers which will get a quietway treatment with logos and humps and consultation on 20mph (where it is currently 30mph).

Links to Surbiton station are provided by Claremont Road and St Marks Hill. On Claremont Road a two way segregated track is planned on the west side with the footway routed through Claremont Gardens. On St Marks Hill a segregated cycle track will be provided on the uphill but only logos on the downhill.

This looks very promising to us. A modal filter should work and Avenue Elmers is a quiet road. The scheme does need to get riders safely across Maple Road. The consultation does not include the sections of the route along Penrhyn and Surbiton Roads to the north nor on Ewell Road to the south. Plainly unless those sections are dealt with, and the crucial junction of Surbiton Hill Road and Ewell Road, so the route is continuous, then these schemes are of little value. Our understanding is that those sections will be consulted on in due course.

The links to Surbiton station will only be complete if the mini roundabout outside the station is tackled. We are a little concerned that logos on the downhill side of Saint Marks Road are sub standard and provide no safe space for cycling on a busy road. The Claremont Gardens footway should be sufficiently attractive and direct to ensure pedestrians use it not the cycle track.